Risque AKB48 commercial draws fire for lesbian overtones

A commercial showing members of wildly popular all-girl band AKB48 passing bite-size candies seductively from mouth to mouth is under fire for encouraging homosexuality.

The advertisement, which aired in March, shows the school uniform-clad young women — all in their late teens or early 20s — intimately relaying the sweet, with the closeup footage slowing as their lips near.

A broadcasting standards watchdog said Thursday the majority of the 116 complaints it received in March about commercials for young people related to this ad.

“The commercial may encourage homosexuality,” one of the complaints said, adding “oral flora” was also a concern, according to the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization.

“I don’t want to see commercials like this,” said another viewer, who also complained about a music video by the group “in which girls, including teens, hug each other in their underwear. . . . It is very distasteful.”

AKB48, one of the world’s highest grossing acts with more than $200 million in CD and DVD sales last year, has become a phenomenon in Japan and other parts of Asia in recent years.

With a total of around 90 all-female performers, ranging in age from early teens to mid-20s, their bubble-gum pop and synchronized dancing has proved a huge hit with prepubescent girls.

Running the gamut from girl-next-door to sultry temptress, the band also has a substantial male following — many of whom are older — who support a vast merchandising industry.

A spokesman for UHA Mikakuto Co., which makes the sweets, said the reaction to the TV ad, which aired for 10 days to March 25, was mixed.”We received complaints about the ad, but there are many people who enjoyed it,” said the spokesman, who declined to be named but said a survey of viewers ranked it the fourth most popular commercial at the time.